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Published versionGERRISH, Kate and PIERCY, Hilary (2014). Capacity development for knowledge translation : evaluation of an experiential approach through secondment opportunities. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 11 (3), 209-216.
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Sheffield Hallam University Research Archivehttp://shura.shu.ac.uk 1
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION: EVALUATION OF AN EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH THROUGH SECONDMENT OPPORTUNITIES
ABSRACT BackgroundExperiential approaches to skills development using a secondment model have been shown to be beneficial to healthcare organisations more generally, but little is known about the potential of this approach to develop capacity for knowledge translation (KT).
AimTo evaluate the success of KT capacity development secondments from the perspective of multiple stakeholders.
MethodsA pluralistic evaluation design was used. Data were collected during 2011-12 using focus group and individual interviews with 14 clinical and academic secondees, and five managers from host and seconding organisations to gain insight into parti ipa ts per eptio s of the su ess of se o d e ts and the criteria by which they judged success. Six After Action Reviews were subsequently undertaken with KT proje t tea s to e plore parti ipa ts per eptio s of the o tri utio se o dees made to KT projects. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with three healthcare managers on completion of projects to explore the impact of secondments on the organisation, staff and patients. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify criteria for success. The criteria provided a framework through which the overall success of secondments could be judged.
ResultsSix criteria for judging the success of KT capacity development secondments at individual, team and organisation level were identified: KT skills development, effective workload management, team 2 working, enabling KT objectives to be achieved, enhanced care delivery, enhanced education delivery. Benefits to the individual, the KT team, seconding and host organisations were identified.
Implications for practiceHosting teams need to provide mentorship support to secondees, and be flexible to accommodate the needs of secondees as team members. On-going support from managers in seconding organisations is needed to maximise the benefits to the individual secondee and to the organisation.
ConclusionsExperiential approaches to KT capacity development using secondments can benefit individual secondees, project teams, seconding and host organisations. secondments have the potential to benefit all parties involved. Secondees benefit from developing expertise in a specific area. The seconding organisation can benefit in that secondees acquire transferable skills that they can apply once they return to their substantive post. These skills can then be communicated across teams/departme...